Mass spectrometer - A method of mass spectrometry is disclosed wherein voltage signals from an ion detector are analysed. A second differential of each voltage signal is obtained and the start and end times of observed voltage peaks are determined. The intensity and average time of each voltage peak is then determined and the intensity and time values are stored. An intermediate composite mass spectrum is then formed by combining the intensity and time values which relate to each voltage peak observed from multiple experimental runs. The various pairs of time and intensity data are then integrated to produce a smooth continuum mass spectrum. The continuum mass spectrum may then be further processed by determining the second differential of the continuum mass spectrum. The start and end times of mass peaks observed in the continuum mass spectrum may be determined. The intensity and mass to charge ratio of each mass peak observed in the continuum mass spectrum may then determined. A final discrete mass spectrum comprising just of an intensity value and mass to charge ratio per species of ion may then be displayed or output.

MASS SPECTROMETER - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a Time of Flight mass analyser comprising an ion detector comprising an Analogue to Digital Converter. Signals from the Analogue to Digital Converter are digitised and the arrival time and intensity of ions are determined. The arrival time T

12-31-2009

20100001180

MASS SPECTROMETER - A Time of Flight mass analyser is disclosed comprising an ion detector comprising an Analogue to Digital Converter. Output signals from the ion detector are digitised and the arrival times and intensity values relating to ion arrival events are determined. If the determined arrival times from two signals fall within the same time window then the arrival times are added together in a weighted manner and the intensity values are combined.

MASS SPECTROMETER - A Time of Flight mass analyser is disclosed wherein the time period between successive orthogonal acceleration pulses is less than the time of flight of ions having the maximum mass to charge ratio of interest. As a result, some ions are subject to wrap-around and will appear in a subsequent mass spectrum. Mass spectra obtained at two different sampling rates may be compared and mass peaks relating to ions which have and have not been subject to wrap-around may be identified.

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an orthogonal acceleration Time of Flight mass analyser. A pulse or packet of ions is released either from an ion trap (

06-17-2010

20100213361

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed wherein an ion signal is split into a first and second signal. The first and second signals are multiplied by different gains and are digitised. Arrival time and intensity pairs are calculated for both digitised signals and the resulting time and intensity pairs are combined to form a high dynamic range spectrum. The spectrum is then combined with other corresponding spectra to form a summed spectrum.

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a 2D or 3D ion trap. The 2D ion trap comprises a quadrupole rod set ion trap wherein a slot is provided in each of the rods

03-10-2011

20110180704

Mass Spectrometer - An ion guide or mass analyser is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures through which ions are transmitted in use. A pseudo-potential barrier is created at the exit of the ion guide or mass analyser. The amplitude or depth of the pseudo-potential barrier is inversely proportional to the mass to charge ratio of an ion. One or more transient DC voltages are applied to the electrodes of the ion guide or mass analyser in order to urge ions along the length of the ion guides or mass analyser. The amplitude of the transient DC voltage applied to the electrode may be increased with time so that ions are caused to be emitted from the ion guide or mass analyser in reverse order of their mass to charge ratio.

Ion Population Control Device For A Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed wherein an ion beam attenuator is arranged upstream of an ion trap mass analyser. An ion tunnel ion trap comprising an upstream ion accumulation section and a downstream ion accumulation section is arranged upstream of the ion beam attenuator. Ions are released from the ion tunnel ion trap and the intensity of the ion beam which is transmitted to the ion trap analyser is controlled by the ion beam attenuator. The fill time during which ions are admitted into the ion trap mass analyser remains substantially constant and is substantially independent of the intensity of the ion beam.

05-17-2012

20120199734

Mass Spectrometer - An ion guide or ion trap is disclosed having an entrance electrode and an exit electrode. The potential of the exit electrode is periodically dropped for a relatively short period of time allowing some ions to escape from the ion guide or ion trap via an aperture in the exit electrode. The period of time that the potential of the exit electrode is dropped for is progressively increased and ions emerge from the ion guide or ion trap in a mass to charge ratio dependent manner. The ion guide or ion trap may be operated as a mass separator or low resolution mass analyser.

08-09-2012

20120208289

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an Electron Transfer Dissociation cell. Positive analyte ions are fragmented into fragment ions upon colliding with singly charged negative reagent ions with the cell. The cell comprises a plurality of ring electrodes which form a spherical trapping volume. Ions experience negligible RF heating over the majority of the trapping volume which enables the kinetic energy of the analyte and reagent ions to be reduced to just above thermal temperatures. An Electron Transfer Dissociation cell having an enhanced sensitivity is thereby provided. Fragment ions created within the cell may be cooled and may be transmitted onwardly to an orthogonal acceleration Time of Flight mass analyser enabling a significant improvement in the resolution of the mass analyser to be obtained.

08-16-2012

20130056629

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an ion mobility spectrometer or separator and an ion guide arranged downstream of the ion mobility spectrometer or separator. A plurality of axial potential wells are created in the ion guide so that ions received from the ion mobility spectrometer or separator become confined in separate axial potential wells. The potential wells maintain the fidelity and/or composition of ions received from the ion mobility spectrometer or separator. The potential wells are translated along the length of the ion guide.

03-07-2013

20130112865

Method of Avoiding Space Charge Saturation Effects In An Ion Trap - A mass spectrometer includes a first ion trap arranged upstream of an analytical second ion trap. The charge capacity of the first ion trap is set at a value such that if all the ions stored within the first ion trap up to the charge capacity limit of the first ion trap are then transferred to the second ion trap, then the analytical performance of the second ion trap is not substantially degraded due to space charge effects.

05-09-2013

20130119247

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed wherein an ion signal is split into a first and second signal. The first and second signals are multiplied by different gains and are digitised. Arrival time and intensity pairs are calculated for both digitised signals and the resulting time and intensity pairs are combined to form a high dynamic range spectrum. The spectrum is then combined with other corresponding spectra to form a summed spectrum.

05-16-2013

20130221242

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a quadrupole rod set ion trap wherein a potential field is created at the exit of the ion trap which decreases with increasing radius in one radial direction. Ions within the ion trap are mass selectively excited in a radial direction. Ions which have been excited in the radial direction experience a potential field which no longer confines the ions axially within the ion trap but which instead acts to extract the ions and hence causes the ions to be ejected axially from the ion trap.

08-29-2013

20130234016

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a device which is operable in a first mode of operation to separate ions temporally according to their ion mobility by applying a continuous axial electric field. The device is also operable in a second mode of operation wherein ions are separated temporally according to the their mass to charge ratio by pulsing an applied axial electric field ON and OFF.

09-12-2013

20130256524

Mass Spectrometer With Beam Expander - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a RF confinement device, a beam expander and a Time of Flight mass analyser. The beam expander is arranged to expand an ion beam emerging from the RF confinement device so that the ion beam is expanded to a diameter of at least 3 mm in the orthogonal acceleration extraction region of the Time of Flight mass analyser.

10-03-2013

20130267037

MASS SPECTROMETER DEVICE AND METHOD USING SCANNED PHASE APPLIED POTENTIALS IN ION GUIDANCE - An ion guide or mass analyser is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures through which ions are transmitted in use. A pseudo-potential barrier is created at the exit of the ion guide or mass analyser. The amplitude or depth of the pseudo-potential barrier is inversely proportional to the mass to charge ratio of an ion. One or more transient DC voltages are applied to the electrodes of the ion guide or mass analyser in order to urge ions along the length of the ion guides or mass analyser. The amplitude of the transient DC voltage applied to the electrode may be increased with time so that ions are caused to be emitted from the ion guide or mass analyser in reverse order of their mass to charge ratio.

10-10-2013

20130292563

Tandem Ion Trapping Arrangement - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a first storage ion trap arranged upstream of a high performance analytical ion trap. According to an embodiment ions are simultaneously scanned from both the first and second ion trap. At any instant in time the quantity of charge present within the second ion trap is limited or restricted so that the second ion trap does not suffer from space charge saturation effects and hence the performance of the second ion trap is not degraded.

11-07-2013

20130317756

Method Of Deadtime Correction In Mass Spectrometry - A method of improving the fidelity of m/z dependent measurements for a species of interest in an analyte in a mass spectrometer, which method comprises the steps of acquiring raw data produced in a mass spectrometer, identifying a region within the raw data that relates to the species of interest, forming a mathematical model to calculate the joint probability distribution of the parameters effecting the m/z dependent measurements, analytically obtaining samples from the joint probability distribution to produce corrected or refined m/z dependent measurements with associated uncertainties.

Space Focus Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer - A Time of Flight mass spectrometer is disclosed wherein a fifth order spatial focusing device is provided. The device which may comprise an additional stage in the source region of the Time of Flight mass analyser is arranged to introduce a non-zero fifth order spatial focusing term so that the combined effect of first, third and fifth order spatial focusing terms results in a reduction in the spread of ion arrival times ΔT of ions arriving at the ion detector.

01-16-2014

20140048695

Curved Ion Guide With Non Mass To Charge Ratio Dependent Confinement - A non-linear ion guide is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes. An ion guiding region is arranged between the electrodes, and the ion guiding region curves at least in a first direction. A DC voltage is applied to at least some of the electrodes in order to form a DC potential well which acts to confine ions within the ion guiding region in the first direction.

02-20-2014

20140048696

DC Ion Guide for Analytical Filtering/Separation - An ion guide is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes. A first device is arranged and adapted to apply a RF voltage to at least some of the electrodes in order to form, in use, a pseudo-potential well which acts to confine ions in a first direction within the ion guide. A second device is arranged and adapted to apply a DC voltage to at least some of the electrodes in order to form, in use, a DC potential well which acts to confine ions in a second direction within the ion guide. A third device is arranged and adapted to cause ions having desired or undesired mass to charge ratios to be mass to charge ratio selectively ejected from the ion guide in the second direction.

02-20-2014

20140048701

Pre-Scan For Mass to Charge Ratio Range - A method of mass spectrometry is disclosed comprising performing a first analysis of a sample of ions wherein one or more parameters are scanned and/or ions are sorted according to one or more parameters during the first analysis. One or more ranges of interest of the one or more parameters from the first analysis are then automatically determined. A second subsequent analysis of the sample of ions is then automatically performed, wherein the second analysis is restricted to one or more of the ranges of interest of the one or more parameters.

02-20-2014

20140048702

Ion Guide With Orthogonal Sampling - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a RF ion guide wherein in a mode of operation a continuous, quasi-continuous or pulsed beam of ions is orthogonally sampled from the ion guide and wherein the continuous, quasi-continuous or pulsed beam of ions is not axially trapped or otherwise axially confined within the RF ion guide. The Ion guide is maintained, in use, at a pressure selected from the group consisting of: (i) 0.0001-0.001 mbar; (ii) 0.001-0.01 mbar; (iii) 0.01-0.1 mbar; (iv) 0.1-1 mbar; (v) 1-10 mbar; (vi) 10-100 mbar; and (vii) >100 mbar.

02-20-2014

20140048704

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an ion mobility spectrometer or separator and an ion guide arranged downstream of the ion mobility spectrometer or separator. A plurality of axial potential wells are created in the ion guide so that ions received from the ion mobility spectrometer or separator become confined in separate axial potential wells. The potential wells maintain the fidelity and/or composition of ions received from the ion mobility spectrometer or separator. The potential wells are translated along the length of the ion guide.

02-20-2014

20140124660

Mass Spectrometer With Beam Expander - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a RF confinement device, a beam expander and a Time of Flight mass analyser. The beam expander is arranged to expand an ion beam emerging from the RF confinement device so that the ion beam is expanded to a diameter of at least 3 mm in the orthogonal acceleration extraction region of the Time of Flight mass analyser.

05-08-2014

20140124663

Ion Mobility Separator With Variable Effective Length - An ion mobility separator or spectrometer is disclosed comprising an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder defining an annular volume through which ions are transmitted. Spiral electrodes a-f are arranged on a surface of the inner cylinder and/or on a surface of the outer cylinder. A first device is arranged and adapted to maintain a DC electric field or a pseudo-potential force which acts to urge ions from a first end of the ion mobility separator or spectrometer to a second end of the ion mobility separator or spectrometer. A second device is arranged and adapted to apply one or more transient DC voltages to the spiral electrodes in order to urge ions towards the first end of the ion mobility separator or spectrometer. The net effect is to extend the effective path length of the ion mobility separator.

05-08-2014

20140131566

Mass Spectrometer - A collision or fragmentation cell is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes wherein a first RF voltage is applied to an upstream group of electrodes and a second different RF voltage is applied to a downstream group of electrodes. The radial confinement of parent ions entering the collision or fragmentation cell is optimised by the first RF voltage applied to the upstream group of electrodes and the radial confinement of daughter or fragment ions produced within the collision or fragmentation cell is optimised by the second different RF voltage applied to the downstream group of electrodes.

05-15-2014

20140131568

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a quadrupole rod set ion trap wherein a potential field is created at the exit of the ion trap which decreases with increasing radius in one radial direction. Ions within the on trap are mass selectively excited in a radial direction. Ions which have been excited in the radial direction experience a potential field which no longer confines the ions axially within the ion trap but which instead acts to extract the ions and hence causes the ions to be ejected axially from the ion trap.

05-15-2014

20140138534

Mass Spectrometer Device and Method Using Scanned Phase Applied Potentials in Ion Guidance - An ion guide or mass analyser is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures through which ions are transmitted in use. A pseudo-potential barrier is created at the exit of the ion guide or mass analyser. The amplitude or depth of the pseudo-potential barrier is inversely proportional to the mass to charge ratio of an ion. One or more transient DC voltages are applied to the electrodes of the ion guide or mass analyser in order to urge ions along the length of the ion guides or mass analyser. The amplitude of the transient DC voltage applied to the electrode may be increased with time so that ions are caused to be emitted from the ion guide or mass analyser in reverse order of their mass to charge ratio.

05-22-2014

20140145074

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a device which is operable in a first mode of operation to separate ions temporally according to their ion mobility by applying a continuous axial electric field. The device is also operable in a second mode of operation wherein ions are separated temporally according to their mass to charge ratio by pulsing an applied axial electric field ON and OFF.

05-29-2014

20140158878

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a time of flight mass analyser. The time of flight mass analyser comprises an ion guide comprising a plurality of electrodes which are interconnected by a series of resistors forming a potential divider. Ions are confined radially within the ion guide by the application of a two-phase RF voltage to the electrodes. A single phase additional RF voltage is applied across the potential divider so that an inhomogeneous pseudo-potential force is maintained along the length of the ion guide.

06-12-2014

20140191123

Ion Guide Coupled to MALDI Ion Source - A pulsed ion source is disclosed wherein the ion source is energised one or more times to generate a first group of ions and a second group of ions. The first and second groups of ions are simultaneously transmitted through an ion guide whilst keeping the first and second groups of ions isolated from each other.

07-10-2014

20140217278

Ion Guide With Orthogonal Sampling - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a RF ion guide wherein in a mode of operation a continuous, quasi-continuous or pulsed beam of ions is orthogonally sampled from the ion guide and wherein the continuous, quasi-continuous or pulsed beam of ions is not axially trapped or otherwise axially confined within the RF ion guide. The ion guide is maintained, in use, at a pressure selected from the group consisting of: (i) 0.0001-0.001 mbar; (ii) 0.001-0.01 mbar; (iii) 0.01-0.1 mbar; (iv) 0.1-1 mbar; (v) 1-10 mbar; (vi) 10-100 mbar; and (vii) >100 mbar.

08-07-2014

20140246575

Segmented Planar Calibration for Correction of Errors in Time of Flight Mass Spectrometers - An ion detector system for a mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an ion detector comprising an array of detector elements. The ion detector system is arranged to correct for tilt and non-linear aberrations in an isochronous plane of ions. The ion detector system generates separate first mass spectral data sets for each detector element and then applies a calibration coefficient to each of the first mass spectral data sets to produce a plurality of second calibrated mass spectral data sets. The plurality of second calibrated mass spectral data sets are then combined to form a composite mass spectral data set.

09-04-2014

20140252223

Tandem Ion Trapping Arrangement - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a first storage ion trap arranged upstream of a high performance analytical ion trap. According to an embodiment, ions are simultaneously scanned from both the first and second ion trap. At any instant in time, the quantity of charge present within the second ion trap is limited or restricted so that the second ion trap does not suffer from space charge saturation effects and hence the performance of the second ion trap is not degraded.

09-11-2014

20140291504

Adaptive and Targeted Control of Ion Populations to Improve the Effective Dynamic Range of Mass Analyser - A method of mass spectrometry is disclosed wherein one or more relatively abundant or intense species of ions in a first population of ions are selectively attenuated so as to form a second population of ions. The total ion current of the second population of ions is then adjusted so that the ion current corresponding to ions which are onwardly transmitted to a mass analyser comprising an ion detector is within the dynamic range of the ion detector.

Ion Trap With Spatially Extended Ion Trapping Region - A mass or mass to charge ratio selective ion trap is disclosed having an increased charge storage capacity. A RF voltage acts to confine ions in a first (y) direction within the ion trap. A DC voltage and/or an RF voltage acts to confine ions in a second (x) direction within the ion trap. A quadratic DC potential well acts to confine ions in a third (z) direction within the ion trap. Ions are excited in the third (z) direction and are caused to be mass or mass to charge ratio selectively ejected in the third (z) direction.

10-09-2014

20140312222

Ion Mobility Separation Device With Moving Exit Aperture - A method and device for separating ions according to their ion mobility are disclosed. An ion guide is provided having a plurality of electrodes arranged to form an ion guiding path that extends in a closed loop. RF voltages are supplied to at least some of the electrodes in order to confine ions within said ion guiding path. A DC voltage gradient is maintained along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of said ion guide, wherein the voltage gradient urges ions along the ion guide such that the ions separate according to their ion mobility as the ions pass along the ion guide. As time progresses the portion of the ion guide along which the DC voltage gradient is maintained is moved along the ion guide. An ion exit region is provided which moves around said ion guide such that ions exit said ion guide at different locations at different times. The present invention allows ions to exit the ion guide after the ions have been separated and without having to wait until the ions reach a fixed exit point, by which time the ions may re-merge with other ions

10-23-2014

20140322817

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an Electron Transfer Dissociation cell. Positive analyte ions are fragmented into fragment ions upon colliding with singly charged negative reagent ions with the cell. The cell comprises a plurality of ring electrodes which form a spherical trapping volume. Ions experience negligible RF heating over the majority of the trapping volume which enables the kinetic energy of the analyte and reagent ions to be reduced to just above thermal temperatures. An Electron Transfer Dissociation cell having an enhanced sensitivity is thereby provided. Fragment ions created within the cell may be cooled and may be transmitted onwardly to an orthogonal acceleration Time of Flight mass analyser enabling a significant improvement in the resolution of the mass analyser to be obtained.

10-30-2014

20140326867

Mass Spectrometer - A mass spectrometer is disclosed wherein an ion signal is split into a first and second signal. The first and second signals are multiplied by different gains and are digitised. Arrival time and intensity pairs are calculated for both digitised signals and the resulting time and intensity pairs are combined to form a high dynamic range spectrum. The spectrum is then combined with other corresponding spectra to form a summed spectrum.

11-06-2014

20140346341

Encoding of Precursor Ion Beam to Aid Product Ion Assignment - A method of encoding a parent or precursor ion beam to aid product ion assignment is disclosed. According to an embodiment the energy of parent ions entering a collision cell is progressively increased. Different species of parent ions fragment at different collision energies. Fragment ion intensity profiles are matched with parent ion intensity profiles to correlate fragment ions with corresponding parent ions.

11-27-2014

20140346342

Mass Spectrometer With Beam Expander - A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a RF confinement device, a beam expander and a Time of Flight mass analyser. The beam expander is arranged to expand an ion beam emerging from the RF confinement device so that the ion beam is expanded to a diameter of at least 3 mm in the orthogonal acceleration extraction region of the Time of Flight mass analyser.

Method of Avoiding Space Charge Saturation Effects in an Ion Trap - A mass spectrometer is provided comprising a first ion trap arranged upstream of an analytical second ion trap. The charge capacity of the first ion trap is set at a value such that if all the ions stored within the first ion trap up to the charge capacity limit of the first ion trap are then transferred to the second ion trap, then the analytical performance of the second ion trap is not substantially degraded due to space charge effects.

12-18-2014

20150021467

Segmented Planar Calibration for Correction of Errors in Time of Flight Mass Spectrometers - An ion detector system for a mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an ion detector comprising an array of detector elements. The ion detector system is arranged to correct for tilt and non-linear aberrations in an isochronous plane of ions. The ion detector system generates separate first mass spectral data sets for each detector element and then applies a calibration coefficient to each of the first mass spectral data sets to produce a plurality of second calibrated mass spectral data sets. The plurality of second calibrated mass spectral data sets are then combined to form a composite mass spectral data set.

01-22-2015

20150028200

Ion Mobility Separator with Variable Effective Length - An ion mobility separator or spectrometer is disclosed comprising an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder defining an annular volume through which ions are transmitted. Spiral electrodes a-f are arranged on a surface of the inner cylinder and/or on a surface of the outer cylinder. A first device is arranged and adapted to maintain a DC electric field and/or a pseudo-potential force which acts to urge ions from a first end of the ion mobility separator or spectrometer to a second end of the ion mobility separator or spectrometer. A second device is arranged and adapted to apply transient DC voltages to the one or more spiral electrodes in order to urge ions towards the first end of the ion mobility separator or spectrometer. The net effect is to extend the effective path length of the ion mobility separator.

01-29-2015

20150041635

Time of Flight Quantitation Using Alternative Characteristic Ions - A method of mass spectrometry is disclosed wherein the intensity of an analyte is determined by determining the intensity of first characteristic fragment ions when the intensity of the first characteristic fragment ions is within a first intensity range corresponding to the detection or unsaturated range of an ion detector. However, when the intensity of the first characteristic fragment ions is outside of the first intensity range so that the ion detector would saturate then the intensity of the analyte is determined by determining the intensity of second different characteristic fragment ions.

02-12-2015

20150041636

Multi-Dimensional Survey Scans For Improved Data Dependent Acquisitions - A method of analysing ions is disclosed comprising performing an initial multi-dimensional survey scan comprising separating parent ions according to a first physico-chemical property (e.g. ion mobility) and then separating the parent ions according to a second physico-chemical property (e.g. mass to charge ratio). A plurality of parent ions of interest are then determined from the initial multi-dimensional survey scan. Once parent ions of interest have been determined, the plurality of parent ions of interest are sequentially selected based upon the first and second physico-chemical properties during a single cycle of separation. The parent ions of interest may then be fragmented and corresponding fragment ions may then be mass analysed.